Rick Rosner: So, I know the election was a bummer. Many people, mostly liberals, think Trump will be even worse and more unrestrained this time around. Carol is nervous that the country will become unlivable for us, possibly due to all the critical things I said about Trump on Twitter.

She’s been actively researching how to move to England and even joined an expatriate group on Facebook. But she found out that England has been cracking down on people trying to live there long-term. According to their laws, you can stay for six months but then must leave for another six months. If you repeat this too much, they may block you from returning, as they don’t want people circumventing their immigration laws.

And now they’re strict. If you run afoul of just one border agent, they can block you if they suspect you’re trying to stay too long.

Which is a problem for us because our kid is getting married in England in a few months. She’s marrying a Brit, has a job there, and that’s where her degrees are from. We hoped to move there and be part of their lives, within reason. We even considered buying an apartment.

But I did find out that there’s a way to get a student visa if you’re enrolled in a research-based master’s or PhD program. Research-based means original work and doesn’t necessarily have to be in a lab. If you’re on a student visa for such a program, you can also bring your spouse. That could be an option. I found out that there are nine MPhil programs in creative writing at universities in the UK. I might qualify for one, and being in a program might give me the discipline to write more consistently. It’s tough to get myself to produce writing otherwise.

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Rick Rosner, American Comedy Writer, www.rickrosner.org

Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Independent Journalist, www.in-sightpublishing.com

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